Ex India head coach Ravi Shastri refuses to blame IPL for India's loss in the ICC WTC final

Ex India head coach Ravi Shastri has come out in the support of Indian Premier League.

The Indian Premier League got the maximum share of the criticism after India’s crushing defeat in the World Test Championship Final against Australia at The Oval. A lot of former Indian cricketers and legends came out in the open criticising India’s preparation for the big WTC Final. Now, Former Indian coach Ravi Shastri has supported the Indian Premier League and claimed that the T20 league was not a ‘disturbance’ in India’s preparations for the big game against Australia. Current Indian coach Rahul Dravid and captain Rohit Sharma also talked about the lack of preparation after India lost their second consecutive World Test Championship Final in the last two years. 

Ravi Shastri defends Indian Premier League

Former coach Ravi Shastri said, “From what I believe, Australia landed in England on the 30th, played golf on the 31st, then had 3-4 days of practice and played the WTC Final. That’s it. So all the talk of reaching early and acclimatising is b******t… It’s more about understanding what the conditions demand in England and practice towards it”.

Most of the Indian squad members were taking part in the IPL 2023 playoffs. 5 of the members were part of the IPL Final which went on for about 3 days and ended on 30th May. Ajinkya Rahane, Ravindra Jadeja, Shubman Gill, Mohammed Shami, and KS Bharat were part of the Chennai Super Kings and Gujarat Titans respectively. 

Former Australian captain Ricky Ponting claimed after Australia’s WTC Final win that Indian players might have been tired after a long and hectic Indian Premier League season. On the other hand, Ravi Shastri said, “I don’t think IPL is one bit of a disturbance. If India cricket is where it is today, you should thank the IPL. You have to thank the IPL because it has produced players who went from playing IPL to becoming regulars in Test cricket”. India will begin their next World Test Championship cycle with a 2-match test series against West Indies in the Caribbean islands in July. India will resume their international cricket in mid July with a month-long tour to West Indies.